Budget cuts won’t slow local airport, city officials say

Tuesday

Feb 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | City transportation officials are awaiting a decision on a round of automatic spending cuts that could ax $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget and possibly affect Tuscaloosa’s air traffic controllers.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | City transportation officials are awaiting a decision on a round of automatic spending cuts that could ax $600 million from the Federal Aviation Administration’s budget and possibly affect Tuscaloosa’s air traffic controllers.But Jon Howell, associate director of the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation, said that little, if anything, would change in terms of the services offered by the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport should the cuts take place.“We do have a contingency plan, but we’re obviously hoping that it gets resolved,” Howell said. “We’re hoping for the best and planning for the worst.”The FAA’s cuts, are expected to take effect March 1 unless Congress acts to stop them.Should these cuts go forward and result in shift reductions on behalf of Robinson Aviation, the Oklahoma City-based company hired to handle the local airport’s air traffic control services, planes will still be allowed to land and take off from Tuscaloosa, Howell said.“Any operations that are going on out there now will continue,” Howell said. “Anything past Friday, the airport will remain the same. There won’t be a lapse in any kind of service that the airport now offers.”Now, air traffic controllers man the tower at the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. Once the controllers go home, pilots use the tower services from the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, the radar for which covers Tuscaloosa’s air space.Should the automatic cuts result in Tuscaloosa losing its 14 hours of daily air traffic control monitoring, in- and outbound pilots will use Birmingham’s air traffic system around the clock.“You’ve got professional pilots who know the rules of the road in case there’s not a (staffed) tower,” Howell said.Charlie Taylor, the vice president of air traffic service for Robinson Aviation, said the company is awaiting word from the FAA on what the plan is going forward.“We’ve heard nothing from the FAA and we’re waiting to hear,” he said.While Tuscaloosa officials maintain that business will continue as usual, the FAA cuts could mean delays or service reductions for airports larger than the Tuscaloosa Regional Airport.The Obama administration is warning that the automatic spending cuts scheduled will result in travel delays at major airports and require traffic-disrupting shutdowns of air traffic control towers at smaller facilities.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says the across the board reductions will mean furloughing air traffic controllers, which in turn will reduce the ability to guide planes in and out of airports.He says travelers could experience 90 minute delays or more in major cities.The transportation reductions are part of broader, cuts that will hit across government agencies that will begin to kick in at the end of next week.